Editorial

By Sherly Isaac

Psalm 23 is one of the well known, most read and memorized Psalms. This Psalm talks about the love of God for His children. David recognized God’s love and His goodness in his life and he wrote this beautiful psalm.

David starts with these words, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” As he himself was a shepherd boy, by his own experience, he came to know God as the shepherd of his life. We can see in David’s life how God provided for him and how he lacked nothing in his life. David says in Psa 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.”

God took him from the humble place and exalted him greatly. If this Almighty God is our shepherd then we need not to worry about anything because it is His job to take care of our needs. Just as a shepherd takes care and provides for his sheep, He would provide us with everything we need.

David says in the second verse, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.” The heavenly shepherd knows exactly where His children should be and He leads them to the place where green pastures and still waters are available. He provides from His rich treasures everyday. Not only do He meet the physical needs but spiritual too. By doing this He restores our souls. He is a very present help in trouble.

“He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.” Shepherd leads his sheep in the right path. When he finds that his sheep goes astray, he would use his rod or staff to bring them back in line. God does the same thing with His children. When we seek His face everyday, He leads us in the paths of righteousness. If His children go astray, He will not hesitate to use His rod and staff.

David says further, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me;” The greatest blessing in being with the heavenly shepherd is that He takes away all the fears from our heart. No matter what we are facing, even death, cannot frighten us if Jesus is with us. He will walk with us in the darkest hour of our life and fill us with peace that passes all understanding.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” It is not easy to have your food when enemies have surrounded you. The worry and fear takes over and makes you sick in stomach. But if God is your shepherd, He will give you perfect peace in the most trying situations and you can have your meal in perfect peace. God promised in Lev 26:6, “I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid; I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land.” This peace He wants to give us.

He will anoint His children and fill them with Holy Spirit. Oil represents Holy Spirit. He is willing to fill us with His Holy Spirit and power.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.” Yes, He wants to fill us with goodness and mercy all the days of our lives, not for one day or two days. And we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

If God has become our shepherd then all these blessings are for us. But if you do not yet have God as your shepherd, you can make Him one just by praying this simple prayer. Lord Jesus, I believe that I am a sinner and I repent from my sins. Come into my life and forgive and forget all my sins. Today I give my life to you. Please be my shepherd now on and lead me to the paths of righteousness. Thank you for accepting me in your sheepfold. I pray this prayer in Jesus name Amen.

Work out your Salvation

By Sheela Isaac

I am not talking here about the unsaved people but about the saved believers who need to work out their salvation daily. If you are unsaved you can never work out your salvation because it is not a process. I have heard many preachers saying that through Bible reading, prayer and good works you can receive salvation slowly and that it is a process, but Bible does not support this theory. If it was true then Jesus died in vain. Salvation is not a process but an instantaneous experience. When you repent from your sin from the bottom of your heart and say to Jesus, "I am really sorry." The Blood of Jesus cleanses you from all unrighteousness and you get saved or 'born again'. After getting saved you need to work out your salvation daily. It is similar to the workouts for body. We daily exercise to keep our body maintained, in the same way spiritual workout is necessary for holiness.

In Luke 15: 11- 32 we read about 'the Parable of the Lost Son'. Here we find that a certain man had two sons. Luke 15:11 -13, Then He said: "A certain man had two sons. "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.' The parable speaks about the sons who were in their father's house. If you are a saved person and a child of God then you are also in your Father's (God) house. This parable is not talking about unsaved people but it refers about saved people. Please note that the son was in his father's house but went away from his father taking all his possession. Not only did he take away forcefully everything that belonged to him but went to a far away land. Many times the same thing happens to believers who think that all is well. After getting saved they live in their father's house for a while. The experience of salvation really brings great joy and excitement in life but as days go by they drift away from God slowly the joy and passion begins to die. As they drift away attracted by worldly things the joy of salvation begins to evaporate. That is the greatest danger for spiritual life when you lose the first love toward Jesus and lose the first joy. That is why the Bible says, "workout your salvation." Phil 2:12-15 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

We need to constantly work out. We need to check our lives constantly to see weather we are not drifting away from God, weather we have not reduced the time we spent with Jesus. Here in the beginning the prodigal son was in his father's house. He enjoyed fellowship with his father; he enjoyed the life style of his father's house, but as days went by his intention to stay in father's house began to fade. Are you in similar situation today? Are you losing interest in spiritual things? Are you losing the fellowship with Jesus? Are you spending less time in prayer and Bible reading? You need to check out. This is the time when Satan comes to entangle you in his trap. This is the time when Satan tries to pull you away from God (Jesus).

Later we find the very pathetic and bad condition of the prodigal son. Why? Because he went away from his father, because he drifted away in sin and lived in sinful pleasures and his life became miserable. When you being a born again believer when you drift away in sin and away from Jesus the life becomes miserable and pathetic. The question is how to keep a constant holy walk with Jesus how to stay attached to the vine. Jesus said in John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. John 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned." When we get saved we become branches of the vine, which is Christ. As long as we abide in the vine and receive nutrition from the vine we stay alive and well but when we drift away from the vine we begin to wither and die. That is the spiritual life. Spiritual life is nothing but it is based on total obedience and abiding in Christ. As you drift away from Jesus all the old sins will began to emerge. For abiding constantly in Jesus especially three requirements need to be fulfilled.

1. Bible Reading:Psa 119:9 How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. Psa 119:10 With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!Psa 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You!

Bible reading is vital for a believer. Somebody said, "If you have not read your Bible 'one day' you have already backslidden." Reading Bible is nothing but hearing the manual of God. As every gadget comes with a working manual, Bible is the working manual given by God to us for leading a holy life. If you are not reading your Bible, how do you know what God wants you to do? How would you know what is correct and what is wrong? How would you know what is sin and what is holiness in the sight of God. Many do not read God's manual nor follow it and that is why they constantly live in sin.

2. Prayer:1 Th 5:17 pray without ceasing,

Prayer is the second vital requirement for every believer. When you pray, you talk to God as you talk to your friend over phone. Prayer connects you and brings you in contact with God. When you pray, you talk to God about your feelings, about your emotions, about your problems, about your defeat, about your triumph, about your failure in living a holy life etc. When you pray, not only God hears your prayer but also give answers to your questions. Prayer brings solace and comfort during hard times and during sicknesses. Prayer helps you to grow in spiritual life and helps you to win your battle against satan. If you do not have the habit of prayer you need to make it a habit. You need to talk to your heavenly father daily.

3. Spiritual growth: After getting saved, spiritual growth is so necessary for every believer. If you do not take spiritual food daily you will wither and die. Spiritual food can be obtained from various sources.

a) By attending Bible believing Church/fellowship: When you get saved in any spiritual meeting, a preacher always says, "find a Bible believing Church," Yes, for spiritual growth, the right kind of spiritual food is very essential. If a young child is not fed with the right kind of food, the child would die. In the same way when a person gets saved he/she is like an infant in God's kingdom. If the infant is not fed with the right spiritual food, the child would not grow spiritually and eventually the infant would die. That is how many get saved and begin their spiritual journey with much enthusiasm but because of malnourishment their salvation and spiritual life fades away.

Watered down messages would not help you to grow spiritually but it would create unbelief and confusion in you. Instead of helping you it would drag away from Jesus. It is so important that you listen to the messages presented in the right way according to Bible, messages which do not contradict the Bible. You need to hear messages, which suggest how to grow spiritually after salvation. You need to listen to messages, which tell you how to achieve holiness in life. When you listen to testimonies of others you will be able to know how God changes life and how God does miracles in the lives of His people.

b) By listening to Spiritual messages:If you are not able to go to spiritual meetings or to have fellowship with saved people, you can try to listen to inspiring messages from cassette tapes. I still remember when as a family all of us got saved we had very few opportunities to attend spiritual meetings. So we began to listen to Br. D.G.S. Dhinakaran's messages on Cassettes. This not only helped me to gain Bible knowledge but also really built up my faith in Jesus and it helped my family and me to grow spiritually. Through these messages I gained unshakable faith on Jesus and I really knew that I was going in the right direction with Jesus.

If you are in US you have a lot of opportunity to hear true Gospel messages. You can hear 24 hrs Gospel messages through cable network, local channels and dish network (sky angel)etc. It would provide you spiritual food. Not only that but if you are not saved till today you can get saved through such programs. I still wonder how somebody could sit in US and not get saved? There are so many unprivileged people around the world who are longing to listen to Gospel messages but do not have the opportunity like you and I have. If you are in US and still not saved then it is too pathetic. If you are sitting near by 24 hrs Gospel messages and still are without salvation then it is like somebody sitting by the riverside but do not know how to drink water and sitting with constant thrust.

Standing in the Gap - Fasting prayer on 8th Dec.. 2015

As the Bible says in Ezekiel 22:30 "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it." And also the Bible says in Numbers 16:48, "And he (Aaron) stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped." We have fasting prayer every second Tuesday of each month. Our next fasting prayer meeting will be conducted on 16th Nov. 2015

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Through the Valley of Death

As many of you know that in the year 2005, our dad was very sick even unto death. God miraculously healed him. We have compiled it in a book form. I sure believe that it will inspire you and encourage you greatly.

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